The Red Dragon Files
by Sanktimonium
Summary: In the city of Vale, it is the duty of an elite few called Detectives to seek out criminals and bring them to justice. This is their story. (Cover Art Credit: lazykatze)


**A/N: Usual thanks to my friends for motivating me to release more when I just sit around like a ninny. Of course I have to do a shout out for /r/Reiss which is a mecca for all kinds of RWBY related fan fiction. Also, please come join the rest of /r/Reiss on the Reiss Steam Group Page. The chat is usually filled with zanny wackos that will make you laugh and we do have occasional Game Nights.**

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Yang Xiao Long twiddled her phone in her hands as she leaned against the cold stone wall of The Box.

The Detective acting as her guard had told her several times to remain in her seat. But Yang knew the man and, out of camaraderie, he allowed her to stand after she refused to sit for the fifth time, citing boredom as the cause of her restlessness.

An hour passed inside The Box and the orange hues of twilight shone through the barred windows, giving the steel table and chairs a hell-like red color. _Might as well be _Yang thought.

Another hour passed and Yang's phone vibrated. Her guard looked concerned—he wasn't supposed to allow the device in the first place. "Cool your jets Frank. It's just my sister."

Yang flipped her phone open. A text had been left instead of a phone call. Yang wasn't disappointed. _I'm sorry! Best of luck! _Yang couldn't help but read it in a condescending tone. She flipped her phone back and buried it in her pocket.

An hour passed again and the night was shining in the places where the street lights didn't smother it. "Hey Frank. Any ETA on when I'm getting out of here?" Yang asked.

"Who said you were getting out?" he responded. Frank was one of the Station's oldest fossils. His peppered hair was his most outstanding feature besides his jovial—if not sarcastic—attitude.

"Well a little kitty climbed on the window seal and told me I would be out in time for late night drinks." Yang responded. "Are you saying the poor little kitty is a liar?"

"You always were able to come up with something witty." he half-muttered, expecting Yang to overhear it as a loud thought than an actual statement.

Yang didn't like his use of the past tense. "What do you know, you old fart." she spat, retrieving her phone and surfing through random apps until Judgement Day arrived.

When Yang was about to actually take her seat just so she could lean her head in her hand and get a few minutes of sleep, the locks on the iron door snapped and it creeked open.

A beautiful, young Faunus with hair as black as the night and eyes as yellow as pure amber strolled in. Even though it was late in the day, her gray pant suit was in pristine condition, as it always was.

Yang put her wrists together. "Well if you're here kitty, then I guess you're going to read me my rights."

"Not exactly Goldielocks," Blake said. "You're more lucky than you think." She tossed a vanilla-color folder on the table, pictures and papers spilled out onto the table. Yang sifted through them as Frank closed the door and Blake walked to the window. "Your 'victim' was a lot more scrupulous than we initially thought."

"What could be more scrupulous than Tax evasion?" Yang said sarcastically.

Blake counted on her fingers, "Extortion, bribery, threats, too much to count on ten fingers. Your guy wasn't a pro in any sense of the word. You're lucky you beat up on the right guy. I might have never got you cleared of the charges if it wasn't for tall, dark, and scoundrel in the other box there."

"I'm free to go, is what you are saying. Right?"

Blake frowned. She gathered up the pictures and papers, before signaling Frank to open the door. "Not exactly. Chief wants to speak to you. If I were you, I would expect the worst."

"Great." Yang sighed.

Frank held the door open for the two ladies. "Nice knowing you kid," the old-timer said.

"Shut up Frank," Yang responded.

Blake led Yang through the hallway out into the Station floor which was spotted with dozens of desks stacked with papers and files. "Good luck," she said as she pointed to the Chief's office. The blinds were closed.

The blinds were only closed when Chief Ozpin was about to pass sentencing. _I guess he likes firing people in private _Yang thought.

"Guess I'll need it," Yang muttered as Blake walked down the hall, her heels clicking and clacking.

As Yang walked across the floor, she heard her name called out by a voice that she didn't want to hear right then. She quickly dispelled the nauseousness in her stomach and the pink hues on her cheeks.

"Yang!" Pyrrha called out again, running up to Yang. Unlike Blake, her suit was worn out from the hecticness of the day. Yang couldn't help but notice the unclipped button that slightly revealed Pyrrha's cleavage.

"Hey partner!" Yang said nonchalantly.

Pyrrha smiled. "You're alright." She placed her hand on Yang's shoulder. Yang felt the weight there instantly lift away. _Of course I'm alright. You're here. _she thought.

"For now at least," Yang said, nudging her eye's to the Chief's office.

Pyrrha looked concerned for a second, but her smile returned a second later as if Pyrrha wasn't bothered to begin with.

Yang didn't want to admit it, but she loved to catch Pyrrha in those moments where she seemed to lose her composure, only to watch her bounce right back.

"After this is all settled," she said. "I thought maybe we could go down to _The Pudding and Pie _and get a few drinks. I'm driving!" she finished in a sing-songy voice.

"That sounds great." Yang responded with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

Pyrrha patted her partner's shoulder. "You should get going then. I'll be right here when it's over."

_Thank you _is what Yang wanted to say. Instead she turned her full attention to the Chief's door and walked towards it like she was staring at Charon's dock. She placed her hand on the knob sighed, twisted it, and strode into the office.

There Ozpin was casually leaning back in his chair with his hands in the shape of a pyramid. He looked at Yang like the damned fool that she had shown herself to be. "Sit down." he said.

Yang did so without a single word uttered.

A heavy silence filled the room and it seemed to compact into a single point on Yang's shoulders. _Just get it over with _she thought.

The Office was decorated with several of Ozpin's accolades. Diplomas were plastered on the walls and his trophies going back to his Grade School Baseball Team lined the shelf above him. The flag for the _Beacon Beowulves _hung below that. The most humbling detail was the picture frame resting just off center on his desk. Yang recalled that in times were her Chief didn't know what to do, he would stare into the portrait in that frame endlessly. Right now wasn't one of those times.

About 5 minutes of silence passed before Yang was fed up. She ripped her badge from her coat pocket and slammed it onto the table before she sprang out of her chair.

"Sit back down," Ozpin said as Yang wrapped her hand around the knob.

She loosened her grip around the knob, releasing all the tension that had built up in her body at the same time, and slumped back into the seat.

Ozpin leaned on his desk. "It is exactly that kind of behavior that lands you in these 'incidents' Officer Xiao Long."

"Yeah," Yang blurted.

Ozpin pulled a photo from under his desk. On it was the mangled face of the perp Yang had brutally apprehended earlier. He threw the photo in her face. "After what you did that is all you have to say?"

"What else is there to say?" Yang yelled. "I beat up on a perp until I turned him into the Living Mess. That's it."

Ozpin sighed. "Yes. . . Yes you did. Listen, Yang. When the last Hunters were tossed aside—"

"Not this again." Yang guffawed. She stood.

"Sit. Down. Officer Xiao Long." Ozpin yelled.

"Or what?" Yang responded with fury. "You're going to tell me more stories? What do you want from me? You want me to get on all fours and beg for forgiveness? The Law says what I did was wrong, and I know that." Yang thought she sounded confident at first, but it was clear her voice was nearly on the verge of tears. "I don't need to hear that from you or anyone else! Now just give my badge to someone else and let's get on with our lives."

The Chief stood from his high-backed chair and bolted his hands to his waist he sighed. "I'll cut to the point then since you are so eager to avoid listening. Officer Xiao Long. Why are we here?"

A deep silence stabbed at Yang. "To uphold peace, honor, and the rights of every human being."

"Thank you. Then you know, whether criminal or not, we can't treat any human being like _this._" he said, stamping his finger on the photo.

"Of course I know that" she snapped.

"Then what is it Yang?" he pleaded as he returned to his seat. "You know what our rules are. I know you know. So, despite all that, you still brutally assaulted this suspect. Why Officer Xiao Long?"

Yang searched for the right words. All she could think of was crap. So she just spoke one word at a time, hoping they would flow together in something coherent. "That's just it Chief. Yesterday, I booked a guy for fencing illegal DVDs. The day before that I booked a guy for counterfeiting bills. The day before that even, I booked a guy for stumbling around like a drunken idiot in the middle of the day. All I do—all we do is throw idiots who break the Law behind bars because the books says so. We're not this Holy Order or this Round Table we make ourselves out to be. Chief, we're street sweepers."

Ozpin scrunched his face and rubbed his temple "Are you telling me you want to quit Yang?"

"No. That's not it at all." Yang pondered her next words carefully. "I want to do something that matters. I want to make a difference in people's lives."

"I see..." The Chief trailed off. "I was going to fire you because of your negligent behavior in the field. But that is obviously not the entire story., I will take this little chat as a sign that you have been under the effects of tremendous stress. _That is what will be put on record_.Starting tomorrow, you are suspended with pay for 1 week. Yang, take some time to reevaluate things. Also, ask yourself this. Is the role of Detective the right role for you?" Ozpin spun around in his chair towards his trophies. "You are dismissed."

Yang thought the word dismissed was a poor choice as she opened the door into the roaring yell of the Station floor that sounded so much like the raging fires of Hell.


End file.
